2022 World Cup (of Soccer)

[hockeyrobot]

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo I guess there should be a thread on this now eh? Go Canada Go!

[2014olympicgold]

Ya I guess haha.

1pt is needed by them, or a loss from another team I think to clinch.

It is crazy to think the Women's team is "the best" in the world with their Gold Medal win, and Canada has been dominating their pool to qualify.

Large countries can clearly be a top threat in all sports if they choose to invest. There's just the amount of people where if you get Davies loving soccer before he loves football you can turn a whole country into forever fans once they see him play.

[Stifler]

Don't hold your breath. Canada qualifying will be the prize. They will be absolutely destroyed at the world cup. The games Ive watched in quali are below sub par levels. Canada is nit a good team by any stretch of the imagination. So enjoy the quali but temper expectations. They'd be lucky ti score 1 goal at the tourney

[hockeyrobot]

Don't hold your breath. Canada qualifying will be the prize. They will be absolutely destroyed at the world cup. The games Ive watched in quali are below sub par levels. Canada is nit a good team by any stretch of the imagination. So enjoy the quali but temper expectations. They'd be lucky ti score 1 goal at the tourney

I will bet you they score 1 goal at the tournament.

[Loch]

Don't hold your breath. Canada qualifying will be the prize. They will be absolutely destroyed at the world cup. The games Ive watched in quali are below sub par levels. Canada is nit a good team by any stretch of the imagination. So enjoy the quali but temper expectations. They'd be lucky ti score 1 goal at the tourney

Definitely an uphill battle if they make it.

That said, the qualifying kick-fests are not typical of how the team would prefer to play. CONCACAF has a bit of a reputation of ugly, foul-laden games, and sub standard pitches, all of which lowers the overall level of play. That said, as an England fan, approaching a world cup with no expectations beyond existential dread is the norm for me!

[ross10019]

Don't hold your breath. Canada qualifying will be the prize. They will be absolutely destroyed at the world cup. The games Ive watched in quali are below sub par levels. Canada is nit a good team by any stretch of the imagination. So enjoy the quali but temper expectations. They'd be lucky ti score 1 goal at the tourney

Oh man I disagree with this take.

Sure expecting Canada to progress to the elimination stage is highly unlikely, but I think you are selling them way short.

This is not 1986 when we couldn't score - there was no MLS then, the NASL had just disbanded and wasn't at same level despite some aging stars playing, you did not see Canadians (or north americans for that matter) playing in the major European leagues.

It's different now - Alphonso Davies of course, not just at Bayern but considered one of the best left backs on the planet, Jonathan David with Lille, Cyle Larin with Besiktas along with captain Hutchison, Buchanan at Brugge, Borjan a fantastic keeper with tons of big game experience playing for Red Star, Eustaqio plays midfield for Porto, Adekugbe who scored the stunner v US plays in Super Lig, Vitoria developed at Porto, Laryea at Nottingham, Miller at Basel. This team can surprise some people. Will they beat the world powerhouses? No. Can they surprise and make some noise? Absolutely. This is not just a miracle run, it's a stacked team, young fast and confident, with world class anchors especially Alphonso, and they are in peak form. If they can keep that up another few months here, I'm really excited to see what they can do on the world stage.

[Mr. Guru]

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo I guess there should be a thread on this now eh? Go Canada Go!

Instant Classic first post of the thread.

- - - Updated - - -

Don't hold your breath. Canada qualifying will be the prize. They will be absolutely destroyed at the world cup. The games Ive watched in quali are below sub par levels. Canada is nit a good team by any stretch of the imagination. So enjoy the quali but temper expectations. They'd be lucky ti score 1 goal at the tourney

The beauty of sports is you never know.

I'll never forget Euro 2004

[ross10019]

Definitely an uphill battle if they make it.

That said, the qualifying kick-fests are not typical of how the team would prefer to play. CONCACAF has a bit of a reputation of ugly, foul-laden games, and sub standard pitches, all of which lowers the overall level of play. That said, as an England fan, approaching a world cup with no expectations beyond existential dread is the norm for me!

The Canadians travel to Mexico and Honduras, they have to endure hours long waits at customs, no A/C in their hotel rooms, vuvuzelas and mariachi bands playing outside their hotel windows day and night, water balloons full of piss thrown at them, all of this intentional and with no action by (and the implicit backing of) the authorities. Then the officiating, absolutely horrendous and in many cases pretty obvious refs are either bribed or scared shitless. The world cup will be like a 5-star hotel compared to a Super 8 to these guys.

[Stifler]

The circumstances are a small part of the problem.

The team is simply not good. Yesterdays match they were passing the ball over the sideline like a bunch of amateurs for example.

Dont get me wrong im glad they'll be there but Canada soccer is simply not good enough to make any noise. Ill be gladly proven wrong in November.

[rataylor22]

If fully healthy, Canada will win at least one game at the world cup. Book it.

[rufio.85]

Don't hold your breath. Canada qualifying will be the prize. They will be absolutely destroyed at the world cup. The games Ive watched in quali are below sub par levels. Canada is nit a good team by any stretch of the imagination. So enjoy the quali but temper expectations. They'd be lucky ti score 1 goal at the tourney

If Canada ends up in the group of death, I agree that it will have a very hard time keeping up.
But several countries with weaker squads end up playing in the World Cup because of FIFA's qualifying configuration...
I mean, Canada can conceivably take a game against an opponent like Tunisia or Ecuador, countries that are still very much in the running to qualify.
What if the US or Mexico end up in our group? We've shown we can beat that type of team.

[ross10019]

The circumstances are a small part of the problem.

The team is simply not good. Yesterdays match they were passing the ball over the sideline like a bunch of amateurs for example.

Dont get me wrong im glad they'll be there but Canada soccer is simply not good enough to make any noise. Ill be gladly proven wrong in November.

Yesterday was by far their worst game of the last 10. You going to judge a team on the basis of watching one game?

[2014olympicgold]

Team Canada has apparently moved up from #40 ranked to #33.

[Stifler]

Yesterday was by far their worst game of the last 10. You going to judge a team on the basis of watching one game?

Ive watched the past 3. None of which were great.

[Belexus75]

its great!!! im big soccer guy and i watch a lot of it...i actually think they will not be pushover either...their problem maybe that with being 40th rank team they most likely will be in last bracket or 2nd last at best which means they will have very good teams they need to compete with for play beyond group stage. For for this young squad, with WC coming here in 4 years, this will be great stepping stone at least...